In order to increase productivity retailers are switching from electronic cash registers or outmoded paper-based systems to PC-based solutions. They're affordable, user-friendly and can help you grow and take your business into the future.

POS solutions are affordable. This is an investment that can be paid off over time in money saved on credit-card transactions.

POS solutions are easy to use and can be used by store cashiers as well as store managers. Some solutions allow you to automate your inventory management, supplier management and purchasing, shipping and receiving processes, and integrate sales transactions with your accounting software.

They help merchants process a wider variety of payment options--such as credit cards, smart cards, debit cards, electronic checks, check guarantee services and electronic benefit transfer cards offered by state and federal agencies.

They eliminate the manual key-in processes. Because keying in each card number is slow and prone to errors or fraud, today's swipe technology is faster and more productive. Plus, processing fees are significantly lower because the method is much more secure.

Today's processing systems offer so many choices that merchants should seek the assistance of experts before making a final buying decision, especially since the equipment can significantly impact your ability to process sales quickly, safely and profitably.

Some POS systems offer entire suites of products; that is, secure payment families of business tools designed to improve payment accuracy and decrease the transaction time. These integrated suites of systems offer all-in-one terminal/printer combinations that support virtually all payment processing demands for today's merchants, including credit card authorization, ATM/debit, check guarantee and multiple merchant applications and identifications. Most merchants find that these integrated systems offer fast, reliable and cost-effective performance for credit card authorization and draft capture, too.

POS systems with attached printers deliver crisp, legible receipts, their PIN pads are easy to use, and they support all major encryption key management schemes. Many of these units also fit comfortably in the palm of your hand to allow for secure data entry for credit and debit cards, electronic check acceptance, check guarantee and even American Express Travelers Cheques.

Merchants should also be aware that wireless handheld transaction processing for both offices and field sales and service people is growing by leaps and bounds. Handhelds deliver significant productivity improvements for service workers through secure Internet connections to computers in either their home offices or at corporate headquarters.

Other new transaction processing options accommodate merchants with limited start-up budgets who want to get online fast, or those who already have Web sites and want to add online payment functionality. In these cases, merchants may want to check out systems with secure payment gateways, centralized processing and online check acceptance capabilities.